Mr. Wonderful Lies Read Free

dimple, nothing. Nada, zilch. He could’ve been listening to the weather report for all the emotion he showed. I knew my dating life wasn’t nearly as exciting as his, but sheesh!
    “You met someone?” Anna nearly shouted, bouncing in her seat like a teenager about to hear a juicy piece of gossip about the prom queen.
    “Yeah, I met someone. I don’t live in a vacuum.”
    “So,” she prodded. “Tell me everything.”
    I shrugged. “His name is Elliot Oliver and he’s a native, lived in South City all his life I think.”
    “South City, hmm?” I could see the wheels turning in her head. “Employed I hope?”
    “He works for the brewery. I’m not sure exactly what he does. We’ve never discussed it in detail.” But I was going to have to in order to keep Anna satisfied. I wrote myself a mental note.
    “So what’s he like?” Anna leaned forward eagerly.
    I wondered what I should say. What was Ollie like exactly? “He has a wonderful sense of humor and he loves to laugh. Not narcissistic, likes to try new things, loves taking float trips on the river. What else do you want to know?”
    Anna sat back in her chair, her sharp brown eyes gauging my every move. “What does he look like?”
    “He’s tall, six one or two, with brown hair and green eyes.”
    “Facial hair?”
    “Goatee.”
    Jared cleared his throat. “You sound like you’re reciting a list of personal facts you read off a want ad.”
    I froze.
    Anna leaned forward, her gaze intent. “Where exactly did you meet Elliot Oliver?”
    She had me right there and she knew it. I’d been hoping to avoid that question. See, I don’t lie. Not that I never have a chance to or never want to. I don’t do it because I have so many tells, I’m worse than a toddler playing poker. Lies just feel wrong. Something in the pit of my stomach twists up into a knot, and I start to feel nauseated. I’ve always been like that. Nobody rats me out like I do. And right then, I was hanging myself out to dry.
    “C’mon Anna,” Jared chided softly. “Back off a little. It’s not like Megan belongs to some convict outreach program or something.”
    “Don’t you start,” she told him. “You know half the players in the city. I shouldn’t have to explain to you why I’m being nosy.”
    Jared slanted a sly look in my direction. “As if Anna Thompson needs an ironclad reason to be nosy.”
    I passed him a grateful smile. He and Anna grew up together. Their moms were, and still are, best friends, so they were raised like brother and sister. It’s why they’ve never dated, and why he’s so good at distracting her by pushing her buttons. Unfortunately I knew that wasn’t going to work this time.
    “Quit trying to change the subject, you two.” Anna narrowed her sharp brown gaze. “Where did you meet this guy, Megan?”
    I sighed, giving into the inevitable. “Facebook.”
    “ What ?”
    Their collective horror actually drew attention from a few of the other people in Cheeky’s. I glanced around, throwing nervous smiles at them so they’d go back to their own thing and quit staring.
    “You aren’t serious?” Anna demanded.
    “Quit being so melodramatic,” I told her, my eyes busy watching my fingers peel the label from my beer bottle. “People have been using dating services for years. How is this any different?”
    “Megan, it’s a lot easier for someone to lie about who and what they are on the Internet,” Jared said quietly.
    I lifted my gaze and was surprised to see genuine concern in his blue eyes. I knew we were friends, but I hadn’t expected this kind of reaction from him. From Anna, certainly, but Jared was a guy and a serial dater. Surely he’d used every tactic in the book to find his dates.
    “How did you meet him on Facebook?” Anna prodded. “Is he a friend of someone you know?”
    “Yes.”
    “Someone you know personally?” she clarified.
    I shrugged. “A friend of a friend.”
    “This is crazy, Megan!”
    “It’s no